Farewell Noronha! March 17, 2000   @Sea correspondent/ photographer, Tim Calver   Fernando de Noronha, Brazil -- The props are churning up the blue Brazilian water, and Fernando de Noronha is shrinking into the distance beyond the stern rail. The Research Vessel SEWARD JOHNSON (RVSJ) is returning to Atol das Rocas. Markus Corcoron and Hillary Ganz lead the way, strolling along a stretch of Noronha beach. Shore leave has come and gone. I am quite sure that we didn't see a quarter of what Noronha has to offer. Who knows how long that would take to see it all, or if it is even possible? It's a place that makes you want to jump ship and give it a try. Shore leave provided time to catch up on some important work. Kevin Kearney (top) repairs a hole in the expedition's 17 foot inflatable boat. Jules Colomer and Sara Konigson (middle) fix shark-sized holes in a gill net. Jessie Jenkins (bottom), charged with recording all that occurs on the trip, takes a moment to catch up on the log of events. Members of our crew would pass each other in the streets and make each other jealous with sights we had seen, and places we had been.   Sara Konigson talked her way onto a local dive boat and followed spinner dolphins as they left Baia dos Golfinhos and began their nightly circle of the island. I had seen the same pod from the aft deck of the RVSJ winding their way between sailboats in the harbor. Spinner dolphins are perfectly named. They throw themselves into the air, rotating in tight spirals like a perfectly thrown footballs, droping back into the sea with barely a splash.   Jenny Schultz hiked the the rim of the northeast coast, leaving no beach untouched. She swam at each one from west to east and had a tough time remembering which was the most beautiful.   Neil Welner started the day with plans to climb Morro do Pico. In the afternoon, we came across Neil sitting on a beach in the rocky spire's shadow, looking out to the sea. The mountain, he learned, is guarded by tiny biting ants. They dropped out of the underbrush into his hair, onto his arms, and under his shirt as he bushwhacked his way toward Morro do Pico's base, nibbling away at any enthusiasm he had for attaining the summit.   Dr. Gruber spent the day photographing Brazilian children. After snapping each digital image, he would flip his camera around, and laugh with the kids as they laughed at their faces on the tiny monitor. It was hard to tell who enjoyed the resulting images more, Doc or the kids.   Now the moon is rising, almost full, over the stern of the SEWARD JOHNSON. It's a reminder that we are due back on Atol das Rocas. High tides are beginning to swell with the moon, the water is getting deeper, and the lemon sharks are beginning to return to the atoll's shallows.

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Ricardo Garla says goodbye to our crew as he prepares to continue his research on Noronha's caribbean reef sharks. Tulio, a Brazilian filmmaker, claims the best seat in the house on the return trip to Atol das Rocas. Learn more about the sleek predator at the focus of Dr. Gruber's research efforts... Tim Calver is an accomplished underwater wildlife photographer and a veteran shark researcher in his own right. Click below to learn more... Our crew is smaller for this return trip to Rocas. Ricadro Garla is staying behind on Noronha to continue his work on caribbean reef sharks. As I write, he is floating somewhere on the island's choppy, windward armed with transmitters, a bottom monitor, and sharp hooks baited with fresh fish. Ricardo and our crew at Rocas will be wishing each other luck as we catch sharks in these two very different Brazillian reserves. Kevin Feldheim is the Principal Investigator for all of the genetic work for this shark mission and others, including Bimini and Florida Keys work. He sends the following summary of his work: We are examining genetic similarities between populations of lemon sharks. A 'population' is a distinct group of sharks living in one particular area. We want to sample as many individuals from as many populations as possible. A small piece of tissue from each shark's fin provides DNA. Last year, Dr. Gruber collected 29 lemon shark samples from these sites. So far on this year's expedition, we have collected 45 samples, most from sharks not more than a month or two old. The genetic technique we are using is called "Microsatellite DNA Analysis". This analysis is similar to DNA fingerprinting used in criminal trials. It allows us to genetically identify each individual shark that we have captured. After five years collecting data from lemon sharks in Bimini, Bahamas, the Florida Keys, and the offshore islands of Brazil, we have arrived at an interesting preliminary conclusion: Our genetic analyses indicate that the Floridian, Bahamian, and Brazilian lemon shark populations are surprizingly similar. These results indicate that lemon sharks living in the Bahamas are not necessarily confined to the Bahamas. Some sharks may leave their island homes and swim to the Florida Keys to breed. Some of the Florida sharks may swim to the Bahamas, or down through the Caribbean, eventually arriving at Atol das Rocas. We are very anxious to analyze these 45 new samples. They may confirm our preliminary findings that the Atlantic populations of lemon sharks are all each-other's relatives, and that some of them leave their 'home towns' to spread their genes. The answers are in the DNA.

© 2000, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution